Leap Year
by CSIsnickers101
Summary: It's an old Irish tradition that only comes around every 4 years, so she couldn't afford to let this opportunity slip by.
Disclaimer - I don't own CSI.

A/N: Hey everyone! This really should have been posted yesterday, as the title would suggest, but I got caught up writing another story that is just about finished too. I apologise in advance if this isn't any good, but I'm a little bit rusty. This is just a little bit of fluff to get me back into the swing of things. Enjoy!

Leap Year

Sara let out a slow, even breath as she stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. "You can do this," she attempted to psych herself up for what she was about to do.

This was so unlike her, so un-Sara-like in every way it was almost unreal, yet here she was about to take the plunge anyway. As she caught her own gaze in the mirror she was starting to seriously contemplate her recent decision making. Despite her apprehension and worry she knew what she was planning to do was the right thing.

She'd entered the bathroom some 20 minutes ago and still hadn't mustered up the courage to leave again. She'd considered waiting until after their shift had ended but since this initial idea came to her at the end of her previous shift she was filled with nervous energy to just get the job done. For you see, Sara was planning on asking someone a very important question.

She had actually been feeling fairly alright prior to stepping in front of the mirror, but with the realisation of her plan only just occurring to her her legs were turning to jelly. The implications of her plan were huge, and could have equally huge repercussions. She was trying her best not to let her anxiety get the better of her, and with ever doubtful thought that crept into her mind she told herself the same thing over and over again: you love him. And she did, very much. So she had to do this to show him how committed she was to their relationship and their future.

She knew this wasn't how it was supposed to be. He was supposed to plan it all out in secret and then surprise her one night when she wasn't expecting a thing. But that hadn't happened. The perfect moment had presented itself not so long ago, a candlelit dinner in a posh restaurant complete with a violinist playing a song she loved, but he hadn't taken the opportunity that seemed so obvious to her. And it was only as that moment had past and Sara felt her heart sink that she realised that it was the one thing she wanted most in the world. But she'd have to wait.

And she did indeed wait, for a grand total of 9 days before she came up with a perfect compromise. Upon the idea landing in her head she was quick to throw it out again, thinking she should give him a bit of time to get his act together and ask her himself. But then she didn't want to wait for him. She was done waiting, and as it was the 29th February, it just felt right.

Sara remembered hearing about this old Irish tradition years ago, and loving the idea of it. Even though it was an old tradition, it seemed very forward thinking to Sara, as nowadays it was considered tradition if a woman waited for the man in her life to do it. Maybe it was just an excuse to empower women for 1 day that only came around every 4 years. It was a lovely thought really. Her mother had once told her she was part Irish on her fathers' side, which apparently accounted for his drinking, so it just felt right to adopt one of her forefathers' ancient traditions.

She caught her gaze in the reflection once more and tried to give herself a boost of confidence. "Come on, you can do this."

She attempted to push herself away from the sink on which she was leaning but as she parted ways with it she could feel her legs wobble under her weight. She hadn't felt this nervous in ever such a long time. The last time she could remember feeling like this was when she sat her final exam at the end of college. It was understandable, a lot was riding on her passing it, and a lot was riding on this too. But Sara knew what she had to do, and she knew if she kept putting it off either she'd well and truly talk herself out of it or something would come up and then it'd never happen. She couldn't put it off anymore. She had to do this.

Sara swung the bathroom door open with so much force it clattered loudly on the wall behind it, causing many passing people to stop and stare. But she pushed on, and continued on her way to the break room.

When her eyes landed on him as she made her way along the corridor she felt her heart almost literally leap out of her chest. He was just sitting there reading through what looked like some test results. He was just minding his own business; little did he know that the woman he loved was about to throw a spanner into the works.

He looked up and spotted her loitering near the doorway. "Hey, I've been wondering where you'd gone to," Nick smiled.

Sara gulped, just about managing to croak out, "Missing me?"

"Always," Nick chuckled, with a wink.

She just stood there in the middle of the room, restlessly fidgeting with her hands.

"You okay?" Nick asked as he placed his test results to one side.

Sara cleared her throat. "I don't actually know how I'm supposed to do this... I've never thought about this part... Maybe I should've looked it up...," she mumbled threw nervousness.

"What are you talking about?" Nick smiled.

Sara breathed out as she lowered herself to the ground. In her own head she was debating whether to rest on one knee or two before awkwardly landing on both knees.

"What are you...?"

"No, Nick, it's time for you to let me talk," Sara gulped. "I don't really know what I'm supposed to say but here goes... I love you, Nicky. You are the greatest thing to have ever happened to me. I can't imagine my life without you. It's a cliché, but you... you complete me. And I don't want to be without you. So will you marry me?"

He sat back slightly, seemingly in a stunned silence.

"I'm doing this because it's a leap year, and it's a old Irish tradition for women to propose to men on... well, today... so I did...," Sara attempted to explain herself. "So what do you say?"

"You have absolutely no patience whatsoever, do you?" Nick spoke up, finally meeting her gaze.

Sara's face instantly fell. "What do you mean, patience? I've been waiting over 6 months for you to ask me," she insisted.

"6 months? We've been together less than a year," Nick argued.

"Well, okay, that might have been a bit of an exaggeration but I want to marry you," Sara stated.

"Well, I didn't know you felt this way," Nick spoke loudly.

"Neither did I, until the other night when we were out for my birthday, and I just had this feeling that you were going to pop the question, but you didn't and I thought... I thought you never would. I thought it was me, that I'd done something wrong. I thought if I didn't do it then... then it'd never happen," Sara tried to explain herself.

"I was planning on it. But you forget the fact that we were called into work early that night, which meant I didn't have time to propose. The chance was gone. Since then I've been trying to find the right time to do it, I couldn't just ask casually before going to sleep 'oh, by the way, do you wanna marry me?', I just couldn't. I wanted it to be special, to mean something," Nick added. "If you'd have just waited..."

"Well, I didn't, alright? So sue me," she shot back, with a shrug.

Nick didn't say anything further, and instead left the room without even so much as a backward glance at his girlfriend.

She too had her own moment of stunned silence. Of all the reactions she expected him to have, watching him flee the room was not one of them. Now she was seriously worried. Was it that bad for her to have asked him to marry her? Was it that awful a thing that he had to walk away? What did this mean for them and their future? Had she just ruined everything?

"Where did you go?" Sara questioned nervously as he walked back through the door a minute later.

"I went to get this," Nick stated, showing her a small jewellery box. The perfect sized box for an engagement ring.

"Oh...," Sara gulped.

"I was just waiting for the right time, that's all," Nick replied. "If you'd have just... I was going to ask you next week... But that doesn't matter now..."

Sara smiled shyly, blushing slightly as she looked away.

He walked over and held Sara's hand as he spoke. "Of course I'll marry you, but you know, I've kinda got this ring that I wanted to give you... So what do you say?"

"Well, I don't know, you've not actually asked me anything yet," Sara stated, smirked ever so slightly.

Nick pursed his lips as he got down on one knee and opening the small box to reveal a beautiful sparkly single-set diamond. "Sara. You are the most beautiful, most intelligent, most frustrating, most incredible, amazing women I've ever met. And I love you. Will you marry me?"

"Of course I will, yes," she nodded, feeling tears fill in her eyes. "I was the one who asked you."

She pulled him off the floor and into a passionate kiss, before wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

"What did I miss?" Greg asked innocently from the doorway where he stood crunching on an apple.

Still in their tight hold, both Nick and Sara turned to look at each other with huge grins on their faces.

Nick shrugged, still grinning. "Oh, not much."

Thank you for reading. Hope everyone enjoyed it. And just to clarify that I was basing Sara's birthday on the date used in Forget Me Not, if I remember correctly anyway. More to come from me soon. Please review.


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